Book Release
The Art of Mary Beth Edelson

A virtual scrapbook of the feminism movement that adds to the historical record from the view point of an active participant includes: Timeline, conversations, essays
and commentary.

Lavishly illustrated 200-page color book designed by
the artist with fold-out, insert, hard cover limited
edition and playful moving part, release date March
2002.

From the 70’s ritual performances to her brand
of feminism in the new century, Mary Beth Edelson has
been destabilizing pre-existing representation of
women while imagining them anew. Whether in her
version of the Last Supper in which Georgia O’Keeffe
plays Christ or re-formatting images of the femme
fatale of Hollywood films, Edelson never loses sight
of what is at stake in her work: the construction,
representation, and consumption of images of women.

To order:  
Contact:
yourstory@earthlink.net

Soft cover: $30
ISBN: 0-9604650-6-5
Hard cover: $65
ISBN: 0-9604650-7-3
Signed limited edition of 200
books includes an art piece
with moving part and ribbon marker


Essays and commentary by: E. Ann Kaplan, Laura Cottingham, Alissa Rame Friedman, Paul Bloodgood, Linda Aleci, Amelia M.Trevelyan and Mary Beth Edelson. A Timeline converges the artist’s work, the feminist movement, the art world and international events in an elucidating and complex relational perspective.

Conversations with Edelson that provide "critical feminist links"1 and insights into the world of the artist includes: Nancy Spero, Yvette Brackman, Miriam Schapiro, Janet Henry and Carolee Schneemann.
The following are quotes from these conversations:


"The self-analyzing processes that these women employ to turn information into knowledge and wisdom is
evidenced in their conversations. Each of these extraordinary women is very present in their own lives and the story of that life is clear to them. This awareness is articulated through their activism, analysis and commitment in the world around them”.
-Edelson

“Well, yes and it was way off base. She’s very famous due to her dramatic death and this interest is kept alive because someone is profiting from it.”–Spero

"Its untenable to just sit there and do nothing.
Besides, on a practical level, if your environment is unstable, if people around you are living in turmoil, it will affect you.”–Henry

“Now when I speak,
I say, until we have some true legality in this world,
we’ll still go on making that declaration and when the time comes that we don’t have to say it anymore, we’ll be the first to know.”–Schapiro

“People in the States are more deferential...and there is a greater tendency for women to have a marketing strategy for themselves...

and perhaps this encourages more accommodating behavior”–Brackman

“The art community in general also dialogued about the
issues of the day; there was a natural social and intellectual flow between artists, critics, curators,etc. I don’t know where t
hat has gone in NYC.”
–Edelson

 

 

 

 

This densely populated book includes
Activism & Community


WAC
Collaborations
Soho Artist’s Co-op
Combat Zone:
Domestic Violence
A.I.R. Gallery
L.A. Women’s Building
 
Chapters on Edelson’s artwork include:  
Drawings
Photographs
Artist’s book
Posters and collages
Collaborative projects
Installations
Conceptually based work
Chiffons
Performances
Story gathering boxes


Historical photographs
and letters from her
archives of the feminist
and activist community.


The intention is for this book to stand alone as an examination of major issues in feminist art during the last thirty years, in the context of a lively critical and visual documentation that decisively places Edelson’s work both in an historical and dynamic current context.

To order:  
Contact:
yourstory@earthlink.net

Soft cover: $30
ISBN: 0-9604650-6-5
Hard cover: $65
ISBN: 0-9604650-7-3
Signed limited edition of 200
books includes an art piece with
moving part and ribbon marker